While there is certainly no shortage of cloud storage options available to mobile users, one large company has been largely absent. To some extent, Google already offers a cloud storage option for mobile users via its popular Google Docs platform; Docs users can upload documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and certain other files to Google Docs, and access those files from the Google Docs application on any PC, Mac, or mobile platform which supports Google Docs. Uploading files to Google Docs is only limited by the paltry 1 GB of storage Google provides, which can fill up very quickly.

Similarly, Google Music allows users of the service to upload their music files to Google’s servers to stream to connected devices, but this too is limited to 20,000 songs. While Google’s cloud strategy to date has largely been piecemeal among its various services, services such as Dropbox, Zumodrive, and Box provide a single cloud storage solution paired with Android applications that let you access files as well as built-in media players for any multimedia files.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is just about ready to launch a full-featured cloud storage solution of its own. Google Drive will be a combination of at least some of the services currently offered by Google, and will allow users to upload photos, documents, and videos to the cloud for easy access to on their web-connected devices. Missing from WSJ’s report is any mention of Google Music, which likely suggests this service will continue to operate as a standalone service at least for the time being.

We don’t yet know details about the storage limits and pricing tiers Google will offer with Google Drive, though we largely expect Google will continue its strategy of offering a certain amount of storage for free, with pricing tiers available for those who wish to store more content on Google’s servers. Google will likely try to offer similar storage options as its competitors, but for a smaller monthly fee.

We should be learning much more about Google Drive in coming weeks. Stay tuned.

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I don’t know how I feel just yet. I’ve subscribed to Amazon’s cloud, where $20 per year nets 20GB of storage plus unlimited music storage. I’m waiting to see what Google has up its sleeves before I get too excited.

I guess one thing Google does have going for it is that it’s almost “too big to fail”, so you know it’s safe (I know Megaupload had a much different user base to Dropbox, but it could happen that a smaller company goes down and takes your data with it).

They will need to get really close to the dropbox interface on both the PC and android for me to switch. I hope they do, I have been waiting for something like this from Google since I bought my first Android device.

Cautiously optimistic that this will be an added CONVENIENCE as well as competitively priced that is value-added rather than Ad-added. Google has done a nice job previously with their services and expectations of new services they announce seem to always be a situation where they are “under the microscope” and need to hit a home run out of the gate. I am definitely interested and will give this new service a shot, though.

It is probably smarter for them to continue to tie their storage to services rather than let people upload whatever. Both because it restricts the content people will share and because people (non-geeks) are more comfortable with controlled services.

I hope the rumor is finally true, but we have been hearing about a Google Drive for years. I kind of agree with the Steve Jobs position that Dropbox should be more a feature than a standalone product. A unified Google Drive in the cloud that is easy to use and integrated with all the products I use would be really great to have. Again, I hope the WSJ report is true because I would be really eager to use the service.

Actually I didn’t think of it right away…. but Google will most likely release it with the same increasing space as GMAIL (always increasing)
Instead of giving EVERYONE x-amount, they’ll just have your cloud storage grow with you…

I like Google for this reason… they just always launch new stuff. Non-stop.
I’m a heavy Dropbox user (4 PC’s, 2 phones and a tab) but I would switch to Google Drive in a heartbeat if it were around 5-10GB

Sure you start with 2GB only on Dropbox, but you quickly move up once you refer friends and complete random deals from their website. I’m at 7GB right now.

As a google and android fan I feel this is a great step forward in the mobile os. However I can’t help but wonder how the cloud is going to adjust to tiered data which the carriers seem to love so much

If you are smart, don’t give this additional leverage to Google. Google already has monopoly on all your personal information. Google apps are great. But it is too much power for one company to have it.

Check personal cloud services like Tonido (http://www.tonido.com). There is no limit on how much you can store and still access from anywhere. No need to worry about privacy and security.

I don’t particularly like having my info stored across multiple services, so i’ve resisted using dropbox and other utilities. This is good news for me as I can take the final set of data i want to back up and use it on a service i’m already using and not have to go elsewhere. This is good news!